No one elected BP to run any level of American government. But we are a government by the money, not the People, so that is a big invitation to British Petroleum to control entire beaches to prevent the news media from from reporting the full extent of the damage resulting from the Gulf of Mexico oil leakage. Mother Jones reports.

In the meantime, most Americans passively sit and watch, along with our politicians, giving a well-documented irresponsible company endless opportunity to operate in relative secrecy while 65 miles of delicate Gulf Coast ecosystem has been ruined by oil. If a “terrorist” with brown skin from the Middle East had caused all of this immense damage, we would have declared yet another “war.” But it’s a bunch of Caucasian men wearing suits who crapped up the Gulf waters and beaches, and they have given huge amounts of money to Congress, so it’s all so very very different . . .

And keep in mind that this disaster does not simply affect the Gulf Coast. Did you see the photos of the oil-soaked pelicans? The “White Pelicans” aren’t simply “Gulf Coast” birds–they migrate all the way from the Gulf Coast up to Minnesota–it has been quite the spectacle to see them passing through St. Louis twice each year. We’ll see how many survive to fly next year. And that’s merely one species.

There is no reason for trusting that BP will do the clean-up job correctly, putting the environment before its profits. From the Mother Jones article (above), we’ve seen that BP will “fix” the problem by hiding information. News is now breaking that the oil has now penetrated 12 miles into the Louisiana marshes. I’m feeling sick about this disaster and sick about the lack of action by our federal government–Why is the Obama Administration continuing to defer to the “government” of British Petroleum? As soon as the first drops of oil escaped into the Gulf waters, this was no longer BP’s disaster; it became an immense American tragedy.

You’ve heard of “too big to fail.” Lots of bank money is making sure that we will continue to have “too big to fail banks.” If these Gulf oil rigs are too dangerous to fail, we shouldn’t have them either (here’s the obvious alternative). But no logic, no evidence and no earnest well-directed passion to preserve the environment will overcome huge corporate election contributions. I’m feeling the frustration of Chris Matthews:

Erich Vieth is an attorney focusing on consumer law litigation and appellate practice. He is also a working musician and a writer, having founded Dangerous Intersection in 2006. Erich lives in the Shaw Neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri, where he lives half-time with his two extraordinary daughters.

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